Balsamic Portobello Mushroom Pizza

Tags

balsamic vinegar, Fontina, garlic, mushroom, pizza, portobello

Packing up for a move is quite a pain. It’s been a while since I last moved, and it’s amazing what all has accumulated over the years! At first, I was looking forward to packing as a chance to go through everything and toss what we no longer need. But after days of packing (and I only have a 2 bedroom apartment), I’m over it and I’m not having fun anymore! Hehe. A few more days and it will all be over… then it’ll just be time to unpack it all!

But once my pizza stone is unpacked, I have some pizza dough all ready and I can make this awesome pizza again! For those of you who have been fortunate enough to try a pizza from BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, this pizza what inspired by one of their Chicago deep dish pizzas. Theirs consists of balsamic portobello mushrooms and carmelized onions. Not being a big onion fan, I omitted the onions and went straight for some mushrooms tossed with balsamic vinegar, parsley, and thyme for some tang and fresh herb flavor. Top it off with some nutty Fontina cheese, and you have yourself a delicious, and seemingly fancy, pizza!One Year Ago: Chicken-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy and Chicken Piccata

Balsamic Portobello Mushroom Pizza

2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ pound baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced
½ teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon parsley
8 ounces Fontina cheese, shredded
Pizza dough, unbaked

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven, if using. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F for at least 30 minutes.

While the oven is heating, heat olive oil until shimmering in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and salt, and toss mushrooms to completely coat them. Cover the skillet and let the mushrooms sweat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and allow to cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add balsamic vinegar and cook another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.

Meanwhile, Let the dough relax for at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes before beginning to work with it. Lightly sprinkle parchment paper or a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. For a little garlic flavor, add some granulated garlic to the cornmeal or flour. Transfer the dough to your prepared surface, and shape the dough until it has a 12-inch diameter. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil.

Spread the mushroom mixture over the pizza dough, leaving a ½-inch border uncovered, then sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Slide the dough onto the heated stone, or place your baking sheet or pizza pan into the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice and serve.

Source: Inspired by BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

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Breakfast Pizza

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bacon, egg, pizza, scallion

In case you don’t know this about me yet, I love eggs. On top of everything. I put it on rice (both plain and fried), potatoes, burgers, sandwiches, soup, and now even pizza. If I see that a recipe has egg on it, I’m intrigued and am almost drawn to try it. I remember seeing pizza that had egg on it, but it was for a grilled pizza. As interesting as that sounds, I’m not ready to try grilled pizza. I’m still old-fashioned when it comes to pizza, I guess. But it made me want to find the non-grilled version, and so I found this!

The wonderful thing with this pizza is that it’s fully adaptable to what you like. Don’t like bacon? Use sausage. Want more veggies in your breakfast? Add some spinach, mushrooms, onions… whatever you want! I really wanted to try this pizza with runny eggs, but my husband prefers them to be fully cooked through, so I was nice and obliged like a good little wife 🙂 haha. But definitely feel free to try this pizza, and make it your own!

Breakfast Pizza

3 strips bacon, fried and crumbled
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cups grated mozzarella cheese
3 large eggs
Freshly ground black pepper and salt
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 scallion, thinly sliced
Pizza dough, enough for one pizza, unbaked

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven, if using. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F for at least 30 minutes.

Let the dough relax for at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes before beginning to work with it. Lightly sprinkle parchment paper or a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. For a little garlic flavor, add some granulated garlic to the cornmeal or flour. Transfer the dough to your prepared surface, and shape the dough until it has a 12-inch diameter. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil.

Sprinkle the dough with the Parmesan, mozzarella and bacon. Make 3 little wells in the cheese and crack the eggs, one into each well. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating after 5 minutes, until the crust is golden, the cheese is melted and the egg yolks are cooked to the desired doneness. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and sprinkle the parsley and scallions on top. Let cool for 2 minutes, slice and serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Portobello Pesto Pizza

Tags

garlic, mushroom, pesto, pizza

So how about a recipe that uses my previously posted pizza dough! I love unique types of pizza toppings. Don’t get me wrong… I do love me some pepperoni pizza, especially after the really cool tip from Brown Eyed Baker about how to make your pepperoni pizza less greasy! Pesto on pizza has always been one of my favorites, though. As soon as I saw this recipe, I fell in love. Mushrooms and pesto! What an amazing combo! Since it seemed so simplistic, I felt a need to add a little something in, hence where the tomatoes come in. I think they add a nice fresh flavor, though they are by no means necessary. That’s the wonderful thing about making your own pizza. You can do whatever you want to create your own unique, fully customized toppings. No need to follow a recipe. Just do what you want!Portobello Pesto Pizza

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound baby Portobello or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup pesto (homemade or store-bought)
8 ounces provolone cheese, shredded
2 tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick and deseeded
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Pizza dough, enough for one pizza, unbaked

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven, if using. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F for at least 30 minutes.

While the oven is preheating, melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add the sliced mushrooms and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released all of their liquid and are soft and browned, 10 to 15 minutes; set aside.

Let the dough relax for at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes before beginning to work with it. Lightly sprinkle parchment paper or a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. For a little garlic flavor, add some granulated garlic to the cornmeal or flour. Transfer the dough to your prepared surface, and shape the dough until it has a 12-inch diameter. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil.

Spread the pesto over the pizza dough, leaving a ½-inch border uncovered. Spread the mushrooms evenly over the pesto, and then top with the provolone cheese. Top with sliced tomatoes, spacing them evenly around the pizza, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Slide the dough onto the heated stone, or place your baking sheet or pizza pan into the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice and serve.

Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Pizza Dough

Tags

pizza, yeast

I have always been a pizza lover. For the longest time, it was my meal of choice and I would have it as often as I could. When I was looking at colleges, I would always try their pizza. You can always judge a place by its pizza, right? 😉

This dough is delicious, and very versatile. You can of course use it to make pizza, but it can be used for breadsticks, calzones, pizza rolls, or anything you can imagine with pizza dough! And this dough freezes wonderfully. By always having some on hand, you can make pizza any time the craving hits (which for me, is quite often)! Pick and choose your toppings and make a pizza that you really want, without the hassle of going out.

I would highly recommend a pizza stone for baking your pizza. I don’t have one myself, but it’s on my wish list! With pizza and any bread you bake at home, the stone will help make a nice crunchy bottom crust while keeping the inside tender and soft.Pizza Dough
Yield: enough dough for 2 medium pizzas or 4 calzones

½ cup warm water
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1¼ cup water, at room temperature

Measure the warm water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top; let sit for about 5 minute or until the yeast dissolves and swells. Slowly stir in the olive oil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour, salt, and garlic powder, mixing briefly to blend. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water-oil mixture. Slowly add the room temperature water, reserving about ¼ cup of water. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed, adding the reserved water as needed.  Switch to the dough hook.  Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball.

If freezing, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a Ziploc bag and freeze immediately. To use the dough, pull it to defrost the night before or that morning. Proceed with the baking instructions.

To bake the pizza, preheat the oven 500 degrees F. If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven while it preheats for at least 30 minutes.

Before shaping the dough, let it relax at room temperature for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes. Lightly sprinkle parchment paper or a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. For a little garlic flavor, add some granulated garlic to the cornmeal or flour. Transfer the dough to your prepared surface, and shape the dough to your desired size with lightly floured hands. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil. Top as desired. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Annie’s Eats, who adapted it from Baking Illustrated